Death March

Preface. 1. Introduction. Death March Defined. Categories of Death March Projects. Why Do Death March Projects Happen? Politics, Politics, Politics. Naive Promises Made by Marketing, Senior Executives, Naive Project Managers, and So on. Naive Optimism Of Youth: "We Can Do It Over the Weekend". The "Startup" Mentality of Fledgling Entrepreneurial Companies. The "Marine Corps" Mentality: Real Programmers Don't Need Sleep. Intense Competition Caused by Globalization of Markets. Intense Competition Caused by the Appearance of New Technologies. Intense Pressure Caused by Unexpected Government Regulations. Unexpected and/or Unplanned Crises. Why Do People Participate in Death March Projects? The Risks Are High, but So Are the Rewards. The "Mt Everest" Syndrome. The Naivete and Optimism of Youth. The Alternative Is Unemployment. It's Required in Order to Be Considered for Future Advancement. The Alternative Is Bankruptcy or Some Other Calamity. It's an Opportunity to Escape the "Normal" Bureaucracy. Revenge. Summary. Notes. 2. Politics. Identifying the Political Players in the Project. Owner. Customers. Shareholders. Stakeholders. Champions. Determining the Basic Nature of the Project. Levels of Commitment by Project Participants. Analyzing Key Issues that Lead to Political Disagreements. Conclusion. Notes. 3. Negotiations. Rational Negotiations. Identifying Acceptable Tradeoffs. Negotiating Games. Negotiating Strategies. What To Do When Negotiating Fails. Notes. References. 4. People in Death March Projects. Hiring and Staffing Issues. Loyalty, Commitment, Motivation, and Rewards. Rewarding Project Team Members. The Issue of Overtime. The Importance of Communication. Team-Building Issues. Workplace Conditions for Death March Project. Summary. Notes. References. 5. Death March Processes. The Concept OF Triage. The Importance OF Requirements Management. SEI, ISO-9000 and Formal Versus Informal Processes. Good-Enough Software. Best Practices and Worst Practices. Death March

EDWARD YOURDON has been called one of the ten most influential people in software, and has been inducted into the Computer Hall of Fame alongside Charles Babbage, Seymour Cray, James Martin, Grace Hopper, and Bill Gates. An internationally recognized consultant, he is author or coauthor of more than 25 books, including Byte Wars, Managing High-Intensity Internet Projects, and Decline and Fall of the American Programmer. He co-developed the popular Coad/Yourdon methodology, co-founded the influential Cutter Consortium Business Technology Council, and serves on the Board of Directors of iGate and Mascot Systems.